They're still laughing at you

Drakken rolled his eyes and snorted at the air. He knew that the voice was wrong. There wasn't a chance that it was right, as the medal around his neck proved.

A bright smile came to his face as he caressed the golden medal. This was a practical wish come true! Some faerie had come along and heard him and decided that he should finally get what he wanted. Though…

He stopped paying attention to the trinket around his neck as he quickly shot a glance at his sidekick. Partner. Side-ner? Whatever. The word didn't matter so much as the meaning behind it. She had come through BIG time, and… And she deserved the respect.

She was sitting in her tanning chair as usual, acting as if the world nearly ending the week before didn't affect her in the least. But he could feel her eyes on him every now and then, a different feeling than when the voices or the creepy-crawlies came out from hiding to harass him.

Drakken was also trying to act unaffected. It wasn't as if anything had actually happened to them. Nothing of any import, anyway, save for the new plant powers.

Except he knew that was a lie. She probably knew too. There was… The air was thick with a strange energy, a sense of anticipation. For what Drakken had no idea. All he knew for certain was that it couldn't last forever and that whatever it was needed to be talked about.

You're lying

He blinked, tilting his head a little. It was a little strange when the voices referred to himself so blatantly. Mostly because they had some insight that he seemed to lack about how he was feeling.

Right. So he was lying again. The scientist had a hint of what it was, as the little hooks in his heart let him know whenever he felt her looking at him.

He couldn't act on it.

He had no right to act on it.

There were numerous arguments that one could make on how Shego was way out of his league, how he was old and she had a world of opportunity open to her. That stuff didn't matter so much. If Shego felt that someone was worthy of her, no matter how odd it seemed, then they must be worthy.

No, the problem was the very glaring, unforgiving fact that he had tried to kill her. She didn't know that, having disguised it so well as a failed robbery, but Drakken would never let himself forget it. Whenever the little hooks pulled at him, the rest of his insides twisted as he remembered…

So he couldn't do it. And if she did, he would have to say no. Because she deserved someone that hadn't tried to end her existence just because a Voice told him to.

Drakken looked around the lair, trying to think of something to distract himself from the awkward atmosphere. If only they hadn't gotten the pardon, then he could pile on villainous scheme after villainous scheme to work on. He and Shego had mutually agreed to enjoy the pardons for a while, though, so he couldn't take that up again. Not yet, anyway.

Frustrated, he let himself descend into a small bout of grunts and stomping as he tossed various little inventions that went nowhere about, looking for something at least unfinished that he could complete. They couldn't judge him for seeing something to completion, now could they?

Stupid, useless idiot

It was at least a few minutes of admittedly pointless flailing when he was snapped out of his attempts to distract himself by a hand on his shoulder.

"Yo, Doc, you okay?" she said. There was some joking note in her voice, but under that he could hear the honest concern. Shego was actually worried about him and his sudden inability to just sit down and work.

It actually made him hurt inside to hear her say that.

"I… Nnnngh…" he sputtered, unsure of what to say. Finally, he settled on, "Things are just weird."

"I know, right?" Shego gave her familiar smirk, letting her arm drop. "I can't believe we got roped into helping Princess and the dork save the world. So much for our villain cred."

"Don't remind me," Drakken said, facepalming. "Hench already cut up my membership card to the guild."

"Was it worth it?"

The seriousness of her tone caught him off guard. He looked at her, her face pinched with a strange concentration as she waited for his response. The weight she was giving it was enough to made him really give a large amount of thought to it.

Was it worth it? He hadn't really considered the question until she confronted him with it. Was saving the world worth losing his villain cred? To be a normal civilian type with mad scientist skills?

It was amazingly easy to answer. After all, only one of them had garnered that which he'd been after the entire time.

"Definitely!" he crowed, puffing out his chest. "It was about time the world recognized my genius. Even if it wasn't under my iron fist…"

"Good." She tilted her head, and for a second Drakken almost expected her to rub her arm just like she had on the alien spaceship. Hesitantly, she said, "You deserve it with how hard you worked. Even if most of your plans were stupid."

"Hmph!" Drakken crossed his arms and turned away from her. "My plans were not stupid! It was all Kim Possible's fault. I would've succeeded if she hadn't kept getting in my way." He turned back around, waving a finger in her face. "And the fact that my plan against the aliens worked says as much!"

"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that."

He snorted and pretended to be frustrated, but inside he felt a sense of relief. This was how their relationship should be. Back-and-forth sniping, slight antagonism with Shego having a one-up on him in the sarcasm department, and the complete lack of any-..

His thoughts cut off immediately when he found himself liplocked with Shego, her arms pulling him into a light hug. He was so shocked that he didn't even react beyond a muffled, confused "Wha?"

A few seconds later, she pulled away and looked him. Her expression was mostly unreadable beyond a slight tinge of amusement sparkling in her eyes.

"You need to brush your teeth more often. I can taste the coffee you had this morning," Shego said with no real admonition in her voice. Her smile was barely even mocking.

This was bad.

"I, ah, Shego…" he spluttered, trying to find the words to make this unhappen. "That was… Erm…"

"Nice?" Her eyes dipped into a half-lidded stare, more than just a little teasing in them. "I can't really say for sure on my end since you went cold fish on me, but I'm pretty sure that you enjoyed it."

He did, and that was one of the worst parts!

Struggling for the will to turn her down, Drakken said with a mild amount of panic and a few octaves higher than he'd intended, "It was completely unenjoyable! And inappropriate! And, and, and I can't believe you would do that!"

"You're lying," Shego said, her confident grin breaking the weak mask he was trying to put on.

You're lying

The echo was loud, and he wasn't sure which was Shego's voice and which wasn't.

"Shego…" He tried to keep protesting, but his heart just wasn't in it.

"Y'know, I always figured I'd board the crazy train at some point. Just never thought that it would be in a relationship with someone as nutty as you," she snickered.

"You have no idea…" The guilt was pressing against his mouth, making him speak the truth. "You have no idea what I've done. If you did…" He pulled himself away from her, rubbing his arms together. "You don't want this."

"Pfffft. Please. Don't even try that." Shego shook her head. "I know pretty much everything about you, you dork. What in the world could you have done-.."

"I tried to kill you." The words hung in the air.

Then Shego laughed, almost a belly-laugh.

"You? Kill me? Are you kidding me with that? I mean, now, maybe you could put up a fight with your plant powers. But there is no way you could have managed to even hurt me before, let alone kill me."

He hadn't even thought that he could genuinely hurt or kill Shego with his new powers. But now that she'd said it... Panic choked him along with guilt, the only thought now was to make sure that she believed him.

"The mission, the one with the McHenry laser grids and the guard sentry. I sent you on that with the intent to have you die." The words came with a strange ease. It didn't make it any less nauseous for him. He had to swallow theatrically to keep the contents of his stomach down.

Her face fell as she apparently realized he wasn't lying. "You… You tried to kill me with that? You…" Mouth twisting in horror, she asked vacantly, "What in the world did I do that you would want to kill me…? I thought…" She grimaced, and some of her usual anger began to come back. "You tried to kill me. You wanted me to, to die..."

"No Shego, you don't understand!" he nearly cried as the panic fully gripped him, his tone begging. He wanted her to go so she would be safe, but he didn't want her to think that he wanted to hurt her! "I didn't-.. I couldn't-.. I can't control myself when It… It…"

"You purposely tried to kill me!" Shego repeated, her tone a mix of disbelief and outrage. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I don't know!" Drakken sobbed, aware he was crying and not caring. "When the Voice talks to me, I can't-.."

"You had better find a-.." Shego cut herself off, suddenly taking in what he said. "Wait. Voice?"

He was sitting on the ground now, shaking from the memory. "Yes. It's like, like I can't think anything except what It tells me. I mean, I hear other voices taunting me and telling me stuff, but this one…" Drakken shook his head, then looked up at Shego imploringly. "I can't stop myself. Because it's always Right and I'm always Wrong. Always."

His head fell, his gaze fixed on the ground. He couldn't look at her anymore. He was such a mess. Suddenly, Drakken didn't care about what he'd thought earlier. Shego really was better than he was. What he was, was just…

Her fingers hooked under his chin, gently forcing it up to make his eyes meet hers. She didn't look nearly as angry as she had just a minute ago. If anything, she looked curious and a little reserved.

"Doc," she said evenly, "I need you to tell me everything."

"Everything?" He wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"The voices. Compulsions. Whatever else that bothers you like the voices you hear."

"You mean like the bugs that come out of my skin and harass me?" Drakken asked with some confusion.

She took in a breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah. Like that."

DSDSDSDSDS

Finally, after a half-hour of him whining about bothersome things that barely mattered at all to anyone but him, Drakken quieted down. He wiggled around uncomfortably on the rocky floor where he'd initially collapsed. Shego, at some point, had grabbed a nearby chair and had flipped it around so her head could rest against its back.

"That's… Pretty much it." He shrugged unknowingly. There hadn't really been much point in telling Shego. What in the world could she do? Hire an exorcist?

...why didn't he ever think of that before!? Maybe that was all he needed! Yes! Drakken was clearly being haunted! Get some of that holy water in there and…

...no. No, it couldn't be that simple. It was him, after all.

Shego sat stock-still, drilling holes into his head. It wasn't unsettling that she was staring at him. She did that sometimes when she felt like getting a peeved point across. No. The part that was making him uneasy was the way she was looking at him.

No anger. No malice. No mockery. Nothing negative at all! She looked… Concerned.

"Doc…" Shego's brow crinkled as she asked, "You've been living with this, this crap for your entire life?"

He thought for a second. That didn't sound right.

"Not my entire life," he refuted. It took him a moment's pause to try and remember when, exactly, it all started. "I suppose the first time I really noticed anything strange and annoying was in college. Around the same time I dropped out."

She shook her head and gave him another look. This one almost looked like pity!

"Drakken." Shego flipped her chair around so the back was to her left and leaned over so they were face-to-face. She gave him a critical eye. "That isn't normal."

"I know that!" he snapped, glaring at her. "Do you think I didn't know that!? Of COURSE it's not normal!"

Instead of giving a snappy comeback like he'd hoped she would and start sweeping this uncomfortable topic under the rug, she sighed. "Have you told anyone else about all of this? Your problems?"

"Well… No! Who in the world would I tell? Dementor?" Drakken looked away and cringed. "Or Mother?"

Shego gave him a critical eye. "What about a doctor?"

"A doctor?" His insides turned cold. "I, I didn't want to talk with one about this."

"Why?"

The simple question shook him. Why didn't he want to tell one about what was going on? But the answers came easily.

Because they might mistake him for being crazy.

Because they might lock him up in a padded room.

Because they could use it against him somehow.

Reason after reason came to him, yet he was unable to articulate a single one to Shego. Instead he gave her a pleading look, begging her to let it go. To drop it. To let things go back to how they were before that rash action, the kiss, on her part.

She watched him for a solid minute. Then she took a breath. It sounded strangely labored, like she was preparing to do a lot of work just after she exhaled.

Her eyes closed briefly as she let out her breath. They opened, now with a determined glint in them.

"You need help."

Drakken's world froze. His stare was fixed on her face. What did she mean 'need help'? What did he need help with? He was trying to ignore the possible explanation that came to mind. She wouldn't do that to him… Would she? Turn him over to quacks in doctor jackets who would tie him to a bed and poke and prod him until he cried and begged for them to let him go?

She seemed to catch his feelings, even with the frozen mask his face became. "Doc, it's not as bad as you seem to think it is. You're sick. You need medicine. Like someone with heart issues." Straightening back up, she asked, "Would you tell someone with a heart murmur that they shouldn't take meds?"

He shifted, looking away from her. "Well… No… But…"

"But what?" she challenged. "You're sick. Your brain's all messed up and being stupid. You need taken care of." Shego uncharacteristically gave his cheek a gentle stroke. It made his stomach flop with both warmth and more guilt. He shouldn't… His mind was cut from his thoughts when she firmly said as she stood up, "I'm calling a doctor."

His mind filled with panic. "But-.. But Shego, I-.. I'm okay enough!" Petulant anger, a familiar friend, filled him with bluster. "What makes you think you're some kind of expert? Maybe… Maybe I'm psychic or something!"

"Doc… Trust me on this." She sounded both stubborn and pleading. "I promise, if they try to stuff you in a crazy room I'll bust in and get you out. Heck, you can even tell me 'I told you so' if that happens!"

"I…" Shego was acting Not Normal. Was this… Really that big of a deal…? It was just stupid voices! Random little blurbs in his ear! It didn't require intervention from qua-..

Then, he remembered the Voice. And what almost happened to Shego.

He paused, then sighed. "I'll listen to you on this." Then, a random thought occurring to him, he insisted, "But just this once!"

"Good." She walked over to her sunchair, her back to him, and snatched her phone from where she had left it sitting. Shego turned her attention to her mobile phone and began poking around, likely looking at the various options for doctors in the area.

Stop her

Drakken blinked. Why would he do that? All she was doing was calling someone or another. Shego wouldn't let them do anything to him, no matter who she called or what they said.

Stop her

He snorted at the voice just behind him. They were just, just stupid pieces of his brain being stupid! Just like Shego said. He didn't, shouldn't listen to them. It would all stop eventu-..

Stop her

His breath hitched in his throat. It dried up, making the insides of his mouth stick together. His jaw flopped open and closed as he stared at Shego's back. He was trying to say something, anything, to warn her. To stop the pressure in his brain.

sToP hEr

Voices screamed in his ear, in his head, all of them growing louder and louder, insistent and unyielding. Drakken tried to ignore it, he really did.

But they were Right and he was Wrong.

DSDSDSDSDS

A/N: Redid chapter 2 after some input from the folks at KP/. It'll eventually be 3 chapters. Just watch, it'll take me ANOTHER 3 years to get the last one out...

Posted from mobile, so there's probably gonna be formatting errors and such. Ah well.